214 CLASS AVES. 



more so than any other birds, in proportion to their size ; 

 their brood is said sometimes to consist of eighteen or twenty 

 eggs. Some make their nests in the trunks of trees, others 

 on shrubs, and give it the form of a ball, of a volume greatly 

 disproportioned to their size ; some suspend it at the end of 

 a branch, in reeds or rushes. The materials which they 

 employ are small plants, little roots, moss, flax, cattle hair, 

 wool, the down of plants, cotton, and feathers ; they tend their 

 numerous family with the most indefatigable zeal and acti- 

 vity, are very much attached to it, and defend it Avith courage 

 against the birds which attack it. They rush on the enemy 

 with such intrepidity as to force him to respect their weakness. 

 The titmice are extended over the old continent, from the 

 north to the south of Europe, through Africa, India, and 

 China : they are also found in North America, but are as 

 yet unknown in the southern part of that continent. Within 

 a few years, several have been discovered in New Holland. 



Among the titmice, those which are most easily caught in 

 snares, &c. are the great, the black, and blue-headed species ; 

 the crested, the long-tailed, the bearded, and the penduline 

 are not so easily managed. There are plenty of modes 

 employed, with success, for the destruction of these little 

 birds, the details of which would involve but little interest 

 for our readers. Those who keep bees are very sufficiently 

 justified, however, in destroying the titmice, as the latter 

 wage a very cruel war upon these useful insects, parti- 

 cularly when they have young ones. 



The Great Titmouse^ the largest of the European species, is 

 spread throughout the old continent, from Denmark and 

 Sweden, to Africa. In France it is seen in all seasons, but 

 is far most numerous in autumn ; as at that season those 

 which, during the summer, inhabited the lofty mountains, 

 descend into the plains to seek a more abundant food. At 

 this period, too, the majority of those from the north with- 

 draw into more temperate climates. 



